《世界大學學術排名》獲不同機構及人士的讚賞。《經濟學人》雜誌及《高等教育紀事報》分別於2005及2010年,讚賞上海排名為「世界研究型大學最看重的年度評核」[13]以及「最著名及具影響力的世界大學排名」[14]。牛津大學校監彭定康及澳洲國立大學前校長伊恩·丘博曾就此排名的準則作出過評價:前者認為有關統計方式「紮實及公平」;後者表示「上海交大排名迅速流傳至世界各地」及「給予了重要的研究表現與聲譽比較」。[15]波士頓學院金融教授菲利普·G.·阿特巴赫亦摘文提及上海排名以「合理、目標清晰及透明度高」為優點[16]。歐盟委員會在2003年12月31日以頭條新聞報道了ARWU「使用若干科研表現指標對大學進行認真評價」[17]。倫敦大學教育學院的 Simon Marginson教授認為ARWU的優點之一在於「遵守了學術研究的規範」。這個排名避免了其他大學排名中,多元化之類的「政治正確」的干擾,單純衡量學術能力,是更加合理的。
^ 3.03.13.2Shanghai rankings rattle European universities. ABS-CBN Interactive. 08-12-2010 [2015-01-27]. (原始內容存檔於2015-07-21). France's higher education minister travelled to Jiaotong University's suburban campus last month to discuss the rankings, the Norwegian education minister came last year and the Danish minister is due to visit next month.; The idea for the rankings was born in 1998, when Beijing decreed China needed several world-leading universities.請檢查|date=中的日期值 (幫助)
^Ariel Zirulnick. New world university ranking puts Harvard back on top. The Christian Science Monitor. [2013-01-20]. (原始內容存檔於2013-04-07). Those two, as well as Shanghai Jiao Tong University, produce the most influential international university rankings out there
^ 6.06.16.2Indira Samarasekera & Carl Amrhein. Top schools don't always get top marks. The Edmonton Journal. [2017-06-11]. (原始內容存檔於2010-10-03). There are currently three major international rankings that receive widespread commentary: The Academic World Ranking of Universities, the QS World University Rankings and the Times Higher Education Rankings.
^Philip G. Altbach. The State of the Rankings. Inside Higher Ed. 2010-11-11 [2015-01-27]. (原始內容存檔於2014-12-19). The major international rankings have appeared in recent months — the Academic Ranking of World Universities, the QS World University Rankings, and the Times Higher Education World University Rankings (THE).
^ 8.08.18.2University rankings: which world university rankings should we trust?. The Telegraph. 2015 [2015-01-27]. (原始內容存檔於2015-04-25). It is a remarkably stable list, relying on long-term factors such as the number of Nobel Prize-winners a university has produced, and number of articles published in Nature and Science journals. But with this narrow focus comes drawbacks. China's priority was for its universities to 'catch up' on hard scientific research. So if you're looking for raw research power, it's the list for you. If you're a humanities student, or more interested in teaching quality? Not so much.
^A world of opportunity. The Economics. 08-09-2005 [2015-01-30]. (原始內容存檔於2012-07-18). It is no accident that the most widely used annual ranking of the world's research universities, the Shanghai index, is produced by a Chinese university.請檢查|date=中的日期值 (幫助)
^Philip G. Altbach. The State of the Rankings. INSIDE HIGHER ED. 2010-11-11 [2015-01-30]. (原始內容存檔於2014-12-19). Nonetheless, AWRU’s consistency, clarity of purpose, and transparency are significant advantages.